For several years, Obinwanne Okeke, chairman ‘Invictus Group’ was the poster boy of the youthful Nigerian energy and entrepreneurial success.
He was celebrated by Forbes Africa in 2016 as one of Africa’s Under 30s Most Promising Entrepreneurs. He even made the cover of the magazine that usually glorifies the rich and the successful.

In December 2018, he was a guest speaker at TEDxYaba2018. He spoke about “the DNA of the Nigerian entrepreneur”. His recommendation will inspire the most laid-back member of his generation: “The success of a business is largely dependent on you as the owner. If there is any part of you that appears to be a limitation, don’t let it hold you back. Take deliberate steps to develop yourself to match your weakness, growth is continuous. Associate with people that will inspire you and are ready to support you. Develop these traits in the right proportion. Don’t be afraid to fail, be afraid not to try. Go for it. Start Something Today!”

That same year, BellaNaija, one of Nigeria’s celebrity platforms showcased him in its ‘Man Crush Monday series’.
Until yesterday, no one ever suspected Okeke was a fraud.
But the secret was let out by Instablog9Ja’s reality-shattering post about the affidavit of FBI special agent, Marshall Ward that showed that Okeke has only been showing a facade of business success. He is just like all the Yahoo Boys that EFCC hunts down the streets, except that he practices his own at another level, a much higher level, phishing, e-masquerading and stealing millions of dollars from several foreign companies.

An embarrassed Bella Naija regretted being duped like Forbes Africa and TedEX and took the decision to obliterate Okeke from its site.
“We have now taken the post off our website and it has been deleted off our social media.
We will keep you updated as more information on the investigation unfolds”, it announced today in a sparse story announcing FBI arrest of the fabled Nigerian young ‘billionaire’.
In his filing, Marshall Ward deposed, after a painstaking investigation that Okeke, defrauded UNATRAC Holding Limited, the export sales office for Caterpillar heavy industrial and farm equipment in the UK, of a staggering $11million.

The FBI investigation followed a complaint by the CFO of UNATRAC that his email had been compromised via phishing and spoofing and that his email account had been accessed illegally 464 times between April 6 and April April 20, 2018, mostly from Internet protocol addresses in Nigeria. Through the hijacked account wire transfers running into millions of dollars were made by UNATRAC to fictitious accounts controlled by Okeke.

Further investigation found that Okeke similarly fleeced Red Wing Shoe Company based in Minnesota of $108,470 also last year. There were other victims in Indiana, California, Alabama, Wisconsin, the investigator found.
Okeke was arrested while visiting the United States this month.
The news has been the most shocking in Nigeria for some time, with Twitterati wondering why the red flags were not seen by everyone until now.

Giditraffic posted a video of a birthday bash by Okeke in South Africa last November, where he was drenched with expensive champagne.
“AAshey yahoo yahoo lomo naa… Ogbeni Invictus obi, Forbes list was getting boring, so he jumped to FBI list”, wrote Ayodeji @datmastermind80 on Twitter.
“This Invictus Obi’s story clearly shows that Yahoo Yahoo boys can operate anywhere- even wearing suits. That’s why I hardly believe all these influencers giving Tedx Talks if I can’t trace their sources of income. Most of them do Yahoo as a major side hustle. Run your own race!”, Olalekan Adigun wrote.
Henry Okelue said: “The apprehension of Invictus Obi is hopefully a notification to the gutter mouthed “rich” businessman/men with obviously dubious “wealth” on here. Your time is near.”
On his company’s website, Okeke published some snippets about his life, which we must warn the reader to take with a pinch of salt, with the report emanating from the United States.

Okeke was born on November 9, 1987, in Ukpor village, 790 kilometres from Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, as the 17th child of a polygamous father.
He went to boarding school aged 10, lost his father at 16 and moved from one relative to another. He named his company Invictus after one of Nelson Mandela’s favourite a poems, by William Ernest Henley, about the undefeated and unconquerable soul of a hard worker, from an impoverished background, who will not give up.

His company, the site claimed, is into construction, agriculture, oil and gas, telecoms and real estate. He has 28 permanent and 100 part-time employees across nine companies. We now know better.
As a teenager, Okeke took courses in business management as well as obtained a diploma as a computer technician. He later moved to Australia to study, where he said he “did all kinds of jobs just to survive.”
He started an events/entertainment company for students called Invictus media and also interned at a poverty alleviation NGO in the country.
While in Australia, he founded Literacy Africa International to raise “awareness about literacy problem among children in Africa.”
He also sourced for donors of used children books across Australia and shipped them to disadvantaged kids across Africa.

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By PM Nigeria

There was always that gaping hole in his startup capital

WE ALL LOST. The Invictus Obi's saga is disheartening not because another Nigeria yet again has been busted for fraud, it's disheartening because the rippling effect will be enormous. A lot of Nigerians are going to pay for yet another scandal by a single Nigerian. Thing is Obinwanne was not just another average Nigerian, he had a CV and portfolio that was envied on even by the international community. He was looked upon as one of the bright spots to come out of this dark hellish place called Nigeria. Obinwanne Okeke (Invictus) was one of the supposed few answers to the damning question of can anything good come out of Nigeria? Featured by Forbes as one of the Forbes 30 under 30. He's been on BBC, given a Ted Talk, Spoke at London school of Economics Africa Summit. Has a conglomerate spanning across many African countries dealing on oil, agriculture, infrastructure, solar energy etc. Had a lot of International awards celebrating his achievements With this sort of portfolio and at 32yrs, he was seen as this bright spark coming out from a country that has more trends for despicable things than amiable ones. Only to find out that beneath all this facade was a fraudster. A serial one. An international corporate yahoo boy with suits and a great CV to match. Estimated to have stolen $20-$22million from US companies from 2011 till date. There was always that gaping hole in his story about his start up capital that gave an itch of not adding up. But then we gave benefit of the doubt as we usually do even to our own collective detriment in a bid not to come across as a hater. He fooled a lot of people and that for a long time. Make no mistake about it, he's going to pay for his crimes. But he isn't my concern. You can't help but feel for other innocent Nigerians that are going to pay for the crimes of Obinwanne too. Obinwanne would be in his prison scrub for a long time serving his time. While other Nigerian out there will be getting Visa denied even after meeting and surpassing all the requirements. Other Nigerians would have to work twice as hard to earn a modicum of trust and respect within the international community. International organizations are going to pull out of deals the moment they become aware a Nigerian is part of the deal. International airports will be a lot more hostile than they already are the moment they see you with that almost worthless green passport. More companies will start declining cards coming from this part of the world. Nobody wins here, not you, not me. Imagine one of the few people who had earned the trust and admiration of the international community being busted for fraud. What is your fate being an average John Doe or Jane Doe? While Obinwanne is going to pay for his crimes inside the walls of a correctional facility. You are going to pay for his crimes in embassy halls, airports, business meetings, immigration offices etc. It will be no fault of yours, you would probably have all the requirements but still would be treated as an infidel. When one of your supposed brightest minds has been busted as a fraud. What are your chances? Nobody won here. We all lost. ~ Prince Uzor Onyemaobi Copied. My take: A lot of people talk of integrity with levity! Now we see what lacks of integrity is. Do i want to say thay Obinwanne is innocent? Hell not, He is a professional at what he does! Fraudulent activities. That's where he made his kick start. Unless along the way he joined bad gangs. Which i doubted. He is a master in his game. Some of us are brought up with integrity and finding anything out of place as very uncomfortable. Everyone loves good life but not at expense of trading your integrity. Yes it's not always easy but we have to remember where we are coming from. Whatever we are planning to do in life, always have integrity at the back of your mind, if you are cut out, what will happen? That will always guide you to think about doing it right. The rewards will always follow straightaway or thereafter or later in life. Good day to you aĺl. OSA.

Source: Osa